1. Field of the Technology
The technology presented herein relates to a test socket including locating means for locating a solid-state image pickup device fitted therein.
The present invention relates to a socket configured to locate a solid-state image pickup device inserted therein so as to enable optical centering at all times, and hence being adaptable to solid-state image pickup devices of different sizes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the remarkable advancement in performance of image pickup instruments using solid-state image pickup devices, such as cellular phones with a camera function and digital still cameras, the solid-state image pickup devices have also become increasingly advanced in performance, e.g., having a mega number of pixels and a wide angle of view. In addition, some solid-state image pickup devices are densely packed by mounting a circuit board, such as a flexible printed board or a rigid board, implementing a camera driving circuit thereon.
In a manufacturing process of solid-state image pickup devices, various tests are conventionally performed to screen out defective products. The test of a solid-state image pickup device is usually performed with the solid-state image pickup device of the test target being fitted in a test socket provided in a tester for electrical testing, characteristic evaluation, or the like.
The structure of a test socket for a solid-state image pickup device is briefly described below with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary schematic configuration of a conventional test socket for a solid-state image pickup device, in particular, of a test socket 100 for a solid-state image pickup device mounted with a circuit board.
As shown in FIG. 7, the test socket 100 includes a base 110 and a cover 120 to house a solid-state image pickup device. The base 110 is provided with a first recess 111 that conforms to the lower shape of the main body including the circuit board of the solid-state image pickup device. The cover 120 is provided, at a position corresponding to the position of the first recess 111, with a second recess 121 that conforms to the upper shape of the main body including the circuit board of the solid-state image pickup device. The first recess 111 provided in the base 110 and the second recess 121 provided in the cover 120 jointly house the solid-state image pickup device. A contact portion including a plurality of contact pins is provided on the bottom surface of the first recess 111 in the base 110 so as to establish electrical connection with terminals of the solid-state image pickup device. It should be noted that the first recess 111 in the base 110 and the second recess 121 in the cover 120 are usually provided with some play to allow the solid-state image pickup device to be smoothly fitted/released.
In order to perform a test in a favorable manner for a solid-state image pickup device, especially for a high-performance solid-state image pickup device as mentioned above, the focal point and angle of view of the solid-state image pickup device should be adjusted to an optical center as accurately as possible. As described above, however, since the first recess 111 in the base 110 and the second recess 121 in the cover 120 of the test socket 100 are usually provided with some play, the solid-state image pickup device should be located as precisely as possible in order to perform the test with a satisfactory degree of accuracy.
Exemplary techniques for locating a solid-state image pickup device in a test socket include one using a test socket having, as locating means for locating and fixing the solid-state image pickup device in a direction (a first direction) parallel to the ceiling plane of the solid-state image pickup device in a housed state, movable chucks to urge toward the center each of predetermined two diagonal corners out of the corners of the solid-state image pickup device (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-109534).
In a case, however, where, e.g., a test is performed using a conventional test socket on a solid-state image pickup device mounted with a circuit board, and the circuit board is mounted at such a position that locating means of the test socket contacts the solid-state image pickup device, it is sometimes difficult to locate the solid-state image pickup device in fitting the solid-state image pickup device into the test socket, because of, e.g., the contact between the locating means and the circuit board. In such a case, there arises a need to fabricate a test socket dedicated for each of the shapes of solid-state image pickup devices so as to accommodate different shapes of the solid-state image pickup devices.